Slicer



March 7, 1939. B, PEDERSEN 2,149,981

SLICER Filed Jan. 21, 1937 VEN O IN T R fzorm/vaz EN My H/fi ATTORNEYPatented Mar. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLICER Florian B.Pedersen, Alameda, Calif.

Application January 21, 1937, Serial No. 121,584

plane of arms 3, but this is merely for purposes of illustration. Thehandle could be positioned hori- 7 Claims.

My invention relates to a device for slicing materials, such as cheeseor butter; and the broad object of the invention is to provide a simple,hand operated slicing instrument having an adjustment for readilycontrolling the thickness of slice.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limitmyself to this disclosure of species of my invention, as I may adoptvariant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a slicer embodying the improvements ofmy invention; a block of material being sliced is indicated by dashlines to show the operative position of the instrument; and

Figure 2 is a transverse Vertical sectional view of the slicer, showingthe guide roller and cutting wire in front elevation; two positions ofthe roller being shown to illustrate the slice adjustment. Plane ofsection is indicated by line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view showing a modified form of rollermounting.

In terms of broad inclusion, the slicer embodylng my invention comprisesa taut Wire for cutting the material to be sliced. A conical roller isprovided for engaging the surface of the material to guide the cuttingwire, and is journaled on an axis angularly disposed to the Wire so thatthe line of rolling contact on the surface of the roller is parallel tothe wire. Means are also provided for mounting the guide roller foradjustment along its axis, whereby shifting the roller varies thespacing between it and the wire to control the thickness of slice. In mypreferred form of slicing instrument, the cutting wire and guide rollerare mounted in a frame having a portion providing a handle; and thecutting wire is preferably stretched between resilient arms of the frameto hold it taut.

In greater detail, and referring to the drawing, the slicer embodying myinvention preferably comprises a one-piece wire frame having a loopedportion providing a handle 2, and having portions diverging from thehandle to provide a pair of spreader arms 3. As shown in Figure 1, arms3 are curved outwardly to provide clearance at the edges of a block 4 ofmaterial to be sliced, so that the frame may be positioned with arms 3extending down alongside the block.

Handle 2 is shown extended upwardly in the zontally,

changing the shape of the spreader arms.

or in any other desired position, by It is also understood that thehandle may be a separate piece.

For example, the handle could be of wood with the converging ends ofarms 3 forming a tang pressed into an end of the handle.

The

time the arms 3 and handle 2 extend upwardly and forwardly, so that thehandle is in convenient position to be grasped for pulling theinstrument forwardly to effect the slicing.

The

cutting is done by a fine wire I stretched transversely across the frameand fastened adjacent the lower ends of upright portions 6. Ends ofcutting wire 'l are preferably anchored to the frame by the simpleexpedient of providing cuts 8 into which the wire is clamped bysqueezing the cut portions together.

In making this portion of my instrument one end of the cutting wire isfirst fastened to one of the arms, and then the wire is pulled tautagainst the resilience of the spreader arms until the outward spring inthe arms is sufiicient to keep the proper tension in the cutting wire.The other end of the wire 7 is then fastened. In order to keep thecutting wire taut, the portions of the frame at the junction betweenhandle 2 and arms 3 are preferably brought into contact at point 9. Thisprevents slacking of wire 7 when the handle is squeezed during operationof the device.

From the upper ends of upright portions 5 the end sections of the wireframe are bent inwardly to provide a transverse journal l l for a guideroller it.

The frame is designed to bring the two at an angle to the wire.

This angle is equal to the apex angle of the roller; that is, the anglebetween the slant height and axis of the conical surface.

One of the upright portions 6 of the frame is made longer than theother, as best shown in Figure 2, in order to slant the roller journalII at the proper angle.

For purposes of controlling the thickness of slice, roller I2 isslidably mounted for adjustment a ong its journal II. That is, thelength of the roller is made less than the width of the frame, so thatthe roller may be shifted axially. By this arrangement, the spacingbetween the roller and 10' cutting wire may be varied to control thethickness of slice by simply adjusting the roller along its journal.Figure 2 shows the difference in the thickness of slice for the twoextreme positions .of' the roller.

. It is found that the roller does not tend to shift along its inclinedjournal ll duringoperation of the device. Therefore it is unnecessary toprovide means for holding the roller in a selected position ofadjustment. If desired however, a holding sleeve l3 may be provided asshown in Figure 3, upon which the roller is journaled. Such a sleeve hasa flange M at one end, and is 7 provided with a nut I6 on the other end.The

latter end is split and tapered so that tightening the nut serves toclamp the sleeve on the wire I I.

the sleeve, and then tighten the nut again in the new position.

I have found that the improved instrument will slice easily suchmaterials as cheese, butter and soap; and that the slices made by thedevice are perfectly uniform in thickness for any given setting of theroller. While my device has numerous advantages, one of the principalfeatures lies in its extreme simplicity of construction, while at thesame time providing the desired slice adjustment.

I claim:

1. A slicer comprising a taut cutting wire, a conical guide rollerjournaled about an axis angularly disposed to said wire, and meansmounting the roller for adjustment along said axis.

tending longitudinally of the wire and so dis- V posed that a straightline on the surface of the roller lies parallel to the wire, and meansmounting the roller for adjustment along said axis,

whereby shifting the roller along its axis varies the spacing betweensaid roller and wire to control the thickness of slice.

5. A slicer comprising a frame having an extended portion providing ahandle, a taut cutting wire mounted on the frame, and a conical guideroller slidably journaled on the frame about an axis angularly disposedto'said Wire.

'6. A slicer comprising a frame having a longitudinally extendingportion providing a handle,

a taut cutting wire mounted transversely across the frame, and a conicalguide roller slidably FLORIAN B. PEDERSEN.

